Winter storm in the United States: this is Elliot, the ‘Filomena’ that will cause the coldest Christmas in four decades

At the height of the Christmas season, a winter storm hits the United States. This is the biggest cold and snow storm in recent decades, which mainly affects the Midwest of the country. The thermal sensation can reach in these places up to -55 ° C during the weekend, as the National Weather Service (NWS) has warned.

The country is preparing for coldest christmas in decadesso 135 million people have already been put on alert.

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Causes. It is due to the polar vortex. His name refers to cold air masses and of low pressures that revolve around the North Pole and the South Pole. Thanks to them, the cold and dense air is maintained over the poles.

• Multiple climatic factors cause that air to be released suddenly.

• One of these factors is the intrusion of warmer air masses that can destabilize the vortex and send arctic air southward, NASA explains.

• For Francisco Cacho, a meteorologist for La Sexta, “this polar vortex has not broken, but it is very wavy. Therefore, the freezing temperatures that come from the Arctic descend to latitudes further south. This causes temperatures of up to -50°C in the US and, on the other hand, in Spain warmer temperatures that rise to points further north”.

• In fact, says Cacho, “Paris and London are 6°C above what corresponds to the season.”

• In comparison, while northern Idaho has reached -50°C, cities like Valencia (Spain) will reach 23°C this weekend.

Similar, but not the same. Very large, the United States is experiencing a ‘Filomena’ like the one Spain suffered. In our country, the storm left very cold temperatures and, nevertheless, with very few degrees below zero.

• The minimum temperatures in Spain were recorded in Bello, Teruel, where it reached -25.4 ºC.

• In the US, some states such as Colorado or Wyoming have registered temperatures of up to -40ºC.

• The city of Boston has received no less than 60 centimeters of snow.

• While in the city of Madrid they came to fall 40 centimeters during Filomena.

Consequences. The weather service warns, “wind chills of this magnitude can cause freezing in less than 5 minutes if precautions are not taken, you can even reach hypothermia.” In addition to this danger, there have been cancellations and delays in journeys to or from the US.

• More than 2,000 flights have been canceled and another 1,000 are expected. In addition, another 4,500 flights suffer delays.

• The US state train network has canceled dozens of trains during Christmas.

• The most affected are the Denver and Chicago airports.

• Also the train service between that city and New York.

The worst is over. The low temperatures of the last few days will counteract those of the next few days. Far from getting worse, the situation in the US is getting better. In some parts of the country it has already gone from -50°C to -30°C and temperatures are not expected to drop again.

for note. The storm has arrived at Christmas, during the days of greatest tourist activity. In the US, the volume of travel was expected to reach pre-pandemic levels, but Storm Elliot is going to make travel very difficult.

Meteorologists have already warned that the alert is maximum. For this reason, US President Joe Biden has warned his citizens to take the storm “extremely seriously.” “This is really a very severe weather alert. And it goes from Oklahoma to Wyoming, and from Wyoming to Maine. And there are real consequences, so I encourage everyone to please follow local advisories,” he said in a statement in the oval office